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How Much Did the Germans Know About the Final Solution?: an Examination of Propaganda in the Third Reich

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How Much Did the Germans Know About the Final Solution?: an Examination of Propaganda in the Third Reich Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Honors Theses Lee Honors College Spring 2010 How Much Did the Germans Know about the Final Solution?: An Examination of Propaganda in the Third Reich Issa A. Braman Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses Part of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons Recommended Citation Braman, Issa A., "How Much Did the Germans Know about the Final Solution?: An Examination of Propaganda in the Third Reich" (2010). Honors Theses. 3371. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/3371 This Honors Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Lee Honors College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. How Much Did the Germans Know about the Final Solution?: An Examination of Propaganda in the Third Reich by Melissa A. Braman In 1925, while Adolf Hitler was serving a short sentence in jail for his failed Beer Hall Putsch, he wrote in Mein Kampf, “With the year 1915 enemy propaganda began in our country, after 1916 it became more and more intensive till finally, at the beginning of the year 1918, it swelled to a positive flood.” Hitler, a soldier of World War I, had experienced firsthand the power of propaganda during the war. With the failure of Germany to counter-act the Allied propaganda, Hitler noted, “The army gradually learned to think as the enemy wanted it to.”1 Hitler applied this same concept to promoting the rhetoric of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). He was able to give the impression that the Nazi movement was huge and unstoppable. The Nazis would saturate campaigning in certain districts for a week, especially in areas where there was likely to be a breakthrough. Through this first basic propaganda element, the NSDAP was able to gain national attention, while leaving the other parties in their shadows.2 The implementation of this concept can be seen in a collector’s series of photographs titled “Deutschland erwacht. Werden, Kampf, und Sieg der NSDAP. (Germany Figure 1: Bade and Hoffmann, awakens. Progress, Struggle, and Victory of the NSDAP).” Propagandamarsch. The photographs were included inside cigarette packages as a In particular, picture 83 of group 32, titled promotion and were collected by patrons. This collector’s card shows members of the SA marching in Munich following the repeal “Propagandamarsch, München 1932 nach der Aufhebung of the uniform ban. 1 des Uniformverbotes. (Propaganda march, Munich 1932, after the repeal of the uniform ban),” sold the concept of a wide spread party, full of power and strength. The image shows the streets lined by Germans, while the SA, marches in perfect precision down the middle of the street, being led by the National Socialist flag. The image is taken from the air heightening the awe of the viewer in sighting the unending line of both Nazis and their supporters.3 The Nazi Party and Hitler entered a political realm, where Germany had been tormented by the outcomes of World War I and citizens were looking for answers. One problem residents Figure 2: 4th bill which has the image of had faced was hyperinflation. When the war ended in 1914, the a man on the back, with a caption of, “A sample of various bills from throughout German during the height of exchange rate for the U.S. Dollar was 4.21 marks. By January hyperinflation, which plagued the Weimar Republic following World War I. 1922 the exchange was 191.81 marks. By January 1923 the Notice the 1,000 Mark with the image of the “Sowjed-Jude Radeck (Soviet-Jew [Karl] Radeck), on the back.” exchange was 17, 972 marks and finally by December 1923 the exchange rate was 4.2 trillion marks to 1 U.S. dollar. This instability made waves in society allowing the extremist party of National Socialism to take root.4 Weighing in on Germans’ fears of these past events, Hitler presented many reforms to the German masses within the Programm der NSDAP (Program of the NSDAP) on February 24, 1920. Included was the union of Greater Germany based on self-determination, abolition of the Treaty of Versailles, formation of a national army, and tight control of the national press for the national welfare. Most important of all these points is number four, “Staatsbürger kann nur der sein, wer Volksgenosse ist. Volksgenosse kann nur sein, were deutschen Blutes ist, ohne 2 Rücksicht auf Konfession. Kein Jude kann daher Volksgenosse sein. (Only members of the German nation may be citizens of the State. Only those of German blood, whatever their creed, may be members of the nation. Accordingly, no Jew may be a member of the nation).” Hitler and the Nazi Party used the Jewish population of Germany as their scapegoat by blaming them for all of the country’s sorrows and extensive problems. Hitler saw the Figure 3: Kanzler, Programm der National Aryan race as the founders of culture, and the Jews as the Socialistischen Deutschen Arbeiter Partei. The twenty-five point Program of the NSDAP destroyers of culture. The question of how to deal with the outlined the intentions and views of the party. Hitler presented them publicly on February 24, 1920. Also, on the final page are the lyrics to Jewish population within Germany would continue to three songs of the movement, including the Horst-Wessel-Lied, which was the anthem of dominate the agenda of the Nazi Party following the the Nazi Party from 1930 to 1945. election of Adolf Hitler as chancellor in 1933.5 The anti-Semitism pushed by the Nazi Party had elements of religious, economic, political, and racial explanations. The new racist element was a result of “eugenic” research that scientifically proved the existence of inferior races. These elements encouraged the conclusion that the Jews were unchangeable and impossible to integrate into the German population. As a result, Nazi propaganda pushed that Germany’s future depended on eradicating them; it was a simple matter of “life or death.” Either Germany or the Jews would have to perish.6 There are two questions that have plagued historians since the fall of the Third Reich. The first is the question over whether mass extermination was the original goal of the Nazis or if it developed over time. The second question is in regards to the mass extermination that eventually 3 took place; how much did the general German public really know? In short, the Final Solution (die Endlösung) was the result of a policy that developed over time with increasing violence. Regardless of the increasing violence and eventual mass extermination of the Jews, the general public had little knowledge of the Jews’ fate, based on the weekly newspaper reports from the time. This paper will demonstrate the lack of reporting of the Final Solution within the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung during the years of 1938 – 1943, while utilizing additional sources available in the Edwin W. Polk and Howard Mowen NSDAP Collection of Western Michigan University Library’s Special Collections.7 The first violence against the Jews occurred immediately after Hitler took power in 1933. Both members of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) participated in smashing windows of Jewish businesses under the organization of local Gauleiters. During this same time period, Jews were removed from civil service and German public life. This discrimination was officially outlined in the 1935 Nuremburg Law, which defined the distinction between Jews and non-Jews, and also banned marriage between Jews and those of German blood. This was then followed by the night of mayhem, Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) on November 9-10, 1938, which was a coordinated attack on the Jewish people and their property. The destruction was a joint effort by the Hitler Youth, the Gestapo (Secret State Police), and the Schutzstaffel (SS).8 It was, however, after the annexation of Austria, that the Nazi government established special centers in order to facilitate emigration. All ministers were forced into promoting the program and on January 24, 1939 Herman Göring wrote to Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick outlining the Reich Office for Jewish Emigration’s responsibilities. 4 The Reich Office shall assume the following responsibilities for the territory of the entire Reich: 1.) to take all measure to promote increased Jewish emigration; 2.) to coordinate emigration, which includes giving preference to the emigration of poorer Jews; 3.) to speed up the emigration process in particular cases.9 However, as the office continued this operation they realized that other nations still suffering from the Great Depression were not accepting droves of Jewish immigrants and that there was not enough money from the government or the Jewish citizens themselves for relocation. The most infamous of all these stories is the voyage of the M.S. St. Louis, which departed from Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939 with 938 passengers of which all but one were refugees. Upon arrival in Havana, Cuba, on May 27, the vast majorities were denied entry. This was due to struggles within from the Great Depression, growing hostility toward immigrants, and anti- Semitism within Cuba. Despite being reported on heavily in the United States Press, only a few journalists and American citizens suggested they be admitted into the United States. With nowhere left to go, the ship sailed back to Europe on June 6. At this time the Nazis were only dealing with the Jewish populations of Germany and their recently annexed areas, Austria and the Sudetenland.
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